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THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCTION
Anna House hits milestone Preschool has served children of backstretch workers for 20 years By RoBERt tRAVERSo rtraverso@liherald.com
During the 1990s, backstretch workers at Belmont Park — the grooms, walkers, exercise riders and assistant trainers of prizewinning horses at the 450-acre racetrack — were often forced to leave their children sleeping in cars at the park while they worked during early mornings to make ends meet. When Michael MiChAEl Dubb, the chairman of the Belmont Chairman, Child Care Associa- BCCA tion, was told by hall of fame jockey Jerry Bailey, two-time winner of each of the famed Triple Crown horseraces, about the conditions the children of Belmont Park’s most essential workers were living in, he set out to change this. “I wanted to do something for these kids, and this sounds great and needed,” Dubb recalled thinking after an on-site preschool was proposed during a conversation with Bailey and his wife, Suzee. In 1998, the nonprofit Belmont Childcare Association was
t
founded to raise funds for a preschool at Belmont Park dedicated to serving the children of backstretch workers. This preschool, called Anna House, the only one of its kind at a U.S. horse track, is celebrating its 20-year anniversary of serving the children of Belmont Park’s backstretch workers this year. Anna House offers a six-week pre-K pro g ram, t h ro u g h wh i ch children are DUBB taught English, math, reading, gardening, art and other topics, Dubb said. “We take kids who normally wouldn’t have much opportunity,” Dubb, a self-described “Long Island home-builder” and the principal owner and founder of the Beechwood Organization, Long Island’s largest real-estate developer, said of the students Anna House educates and nurtures. Anna House, on its website, points out the stark experience of children who first come to the
heir faces and expressions… there’s no word to describe it
Scarlett Liriano Cepin/Herald file photo
SAGiNE PiERRE-ChARlES, thE owner of Sage & Angie Boutique in West Hempstead, said she has seen a significant increase in community members’ focus on shopping at Black-owned businesses over the last five years.
Black-owned businesses rise
Owner: consumers making ‘conscious’ choices By RoBERt tRAVERSo rtraverso@liherald.com
More and more over the last five years, shoppers have walked into Sagine PierreCharles’ business with a specific question: “Are you the owner?” When she confirms that she is, customers are often ecstatic: “Yes! Blackowned,” she said they frequently reply. Black business owners and community leaders in Elmont
and nearby communities reflected on the state of Blackowned business amid Black History Month, and said there has been an increase in consciousness among consumers in recent years, with more people choosing to shop at Black-owned stores in local communities. “We haven’t been successful in having our own businesses,” said Pierre-Charles, the owner of Sage & Angie Boutique in West Hempstead,
about the history of Black Americans operating businesses. She said one reason why Black-owned businesses don’t exist in greater numbers on Long Island and across the U.S. is the reluctance of many Black parents, who traditionally emphasize the prospect of education and “working for someone else.” But Blackow n e d bu s i n e s s e s h ave become more common, and Continued on page 16
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